03/25/2020
As you know Aurora and Tri-County Health are placing Stay at Home directives starting March 26, 2020 and lasting through April 17, 2020. Here at Kenlyn we want to ensure the safety of the people that care for your horse daily as well as you personally. We will be cleaning and disinfecting as many solid surfaces as possible on a daily basis including door handles and the bathroom in the upper barn. Starting today, only current Boarders are allowed on the property. All other Public will not be allowed on the property. We ask that anyone who is feeling sick or has come into contact with anyone that is sick should not come to the barn. This includes public lessons and Sarah Shepard will address her safety procedures with Boarders that still wish to have lessons. We are asking that you limit your time here and also limit the amount of family members that you bring to Kenlyn. You can continue caring for your horses as needed but keep everyone else’s safety in mind. Keep in mind, any accidents that could happen will further stress our healthcare system so take extra precaution with your horses.
Boarders, we strongly urge you, if you don’t already own your own brushes, to purchase an inexpensive grooming kit to keep in your tack box. Do not share tack and if you do, make sure you have a cleaning process in place that meets the standards set by the state.
Wear your riding gloves, avoid touching your face, wash hands regularly and avoid close contact with other people. When using the restroom, please be conservative with the use of toilet paper since many of you know how hard it is to come by.
Keep a minimum space barrier of 6 feet between yourself and other people at all times. That means no tacking out horses side-by-side, no casual chats with friends in the tack rooms or barn seating area.
Allow no more than 4 people in the indoor/outdoor arena at a time and no more than 2 people in the isles of the indoor barn. If there is the maximum number of people in the areas or isles, please wait your turn.
Disinfect all common surfaces and items touched by multiple people. We will have a spray bottle of disinfectant and paper towels at the upper barn bathroom and the lower seating area that you can spray the paper towel and take it with you to wipe surfaces. Remember this lightens the burden for all those who do handle it. Limit what you touch, and expect that shared barn items like pitchforks, wheelbarrows, rakes, hoses, etc. are off limits for the next 45 days.
In case you have to self-quarantine or are laid low by the virus itself, do you have a buddy who can take over your extra horse-care duties? If they will be riding or handling your horse, are they covered by insurance? Make these contingency plans now, before they’re actually needed.
Write down a care plan for your horse, including his feed, turnout and exercise schedule. Also make sure your buddy knows what to do in case your horse has a health emergency and you cannot be contacted.
As the Government reminds us, panic buying doesn’t help anyone, but you need to make sure you have enough horse feed, medication and any other supplies to last a few weeks.
Keep the lines of communication open with your buddy or others who are helping out and if you do need to see your horse but can’t come out, use apps like Facetime or Google Duo.
Seeing the Vet and Farriers:
We highly encourage you to consult with your own personal Vet and Farrier to obtain their policies and procedures during this time. We highly discourage you from “group” vet visits.
The spread of the COVID-19 virus has impacted many aspects of all businesses. As always, we value our boarders and those that care for our horses and are making decisions based on their best interests. We will keep posting updates as we get clear directives from the State and Local Governments.
Remember What It’s All About
With these precautions in place, don’t forget that horses are intended to take stress away! Here’s a final word from Linda: “Enjoy the peacefulness of being around horses and fresh air during these challenging times. Best of luck to you guys, stay safe and let’s be thankful we are in this industry and get to spend our social distancing with a horse.”
Ken and Linda Fisher
